Well! This makes a pleasant change although not too surprising. A professional dancer that EVERYBODY loves. Have to admit though... I think she's rather lovely too.

I didn't take to Natalie on her first year but since then she is one of my favourites, she always gets the very best out of her celeb partner and she isn't one to take the limelight and what a dancer.

I really hope she returns next year and wins the Glitterball.

I think she's great. She is genuinely invested in all her partners whatever their ability. I'd love her to lift that glitter ball.

Natalie is by far the best of the pro dancers by a country mile. It is a shame that many didn't appreciate her in her first year as then she might have won with Ricky Whittle.

I'd like them to sign up Jake Canusso from Benidorm and pair him with Natalie, they would be great together.

I agree

I have watched every dance on Strictly over the 12 series ( sorry, seasons , as we now call them) and only ever voted once and that for Natalia and Ricky , only because of the abuse she was receiving here.

Natalie is my favourite pro and sad that her time was so short this year .

Long time now since she had a contender . The problem is finding someone tall who can dance .

BBC are treating her like muck off the floor Paace when they could give her the VIP treatment.

Same with me. She seemed overly competitive in her first couple of years, but I think you see a dancer's better side when her celebrity partners aren't so good, and she's really been great with her 'duffer' partners over the last few years.

I wasn't reading this forum during Nat's first series, but am very surprised that they were not liked on here. They were a great couple.
And then came the magic that was Natalie and Scott - What a joy they were to watch! Their VW, jive, and quickstep are some of my all-time favourite strictly dances. Such a pity he burned out.
I know she's fabulous at elating duffers far beyond expectations, but, still, what a waste of an amazing dancer and coreographer. I do hope she will get a contender next year.

I wonder whether one of the reasons why Nat was so upset was because she's decided this is her last year. In her mid thirties and about to marry her thoughts might lie in other directions. I will miss her if she goes, apart from being a sublime ballroom dancer she is also an excellent teacher and just about the loveliest of the professional dancers.

This crossed my mind as well. In which case she'd better have a decent partner for the Christmas Special and she'd better be doing a Ballroom dance.

Like several others, Natalie has really grown on me as I did not take to her at all in her first series. She came over a little too hard and competitive with Ricky Whittle. I loved her partnership with Scott Maslen where she produced some marvellous routines. The relationship with Audley felt a bit one-sided (from her) and awkward. However, I really began to notice and like her with Michael Vaughan, who she took on an amazing journey. Their mutual admiration was clear and was a joy to behold. This attitude continued with both Tim & Ainsley.

She really seems to invest everything in her partners, no matter what their ability (Aliona should take note). Even when talking to her celebs, or when they are talking about her to someone else, (eg Zoe) she looks right into their eyes giving them her absolute full attention. To top all of that, she is an amazing dancer and the show would be far less without her presence.

Natalie seems to be a genuinely sweet and nice person, and is definitely my favourite pro, Her choreography is fantastic, and she always tries to get the best out of her partners, no matter their level.

I have to give a nod to Karen here, too - neither Natalie nor Karen gets mardy about being paired with apparent duffers; they're always really gracious about it and seem to be really pleased no matter who they're paired with. In fact, they both seem to enjoy those partnerships.

I really hope Natalie gets a contender next year.

I'd also like to see her in a pro dance where she's front and centre - just her and her pro partner, not all the pros together. It always seems to be the same pros who do those dances, and I'd like to see Natalie showcased for a change.

Good shouts on all three counts!

deleted

Could not agree more with all the comments written. Had the pleasure to meet her in real life and she is absolutely adorable!! Besides that she is very funny and has got a great sense of humor.

I really hope she gets a decent partner next year if she is back. Could be that this was her last, hope not..

Natalie and Trent dancing together last season is one of my favourite moments from any series (pity about the old codger and the mad woman shouting their heads off in the background.)

Can't find it on Youtube, darn it.

Here you are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Uu43LqTQk

One of my all-time favourite pro dances is the one by Pasha, Katya, Natalie and Brendan to Rolling in the Deep in 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8F2WKnsTE

Love that routine, Katya partner-swapping choreography is always a winner.
See also: https://m.youtube.com/?gl=DE#/watch?v=VL1_GAgscJE

Adore her, stunning to look at but also extremely humble and sweet.

Beautiful inside and out, and as a dancer. Her ballroom is unsurpassed, with the world's most beautiful neck!

I cried during the Results show - so rare, but I adore Ainsley, and his kissing everyone and tearing up his last dance with Nat was so genuine. Two sparky people, that set alight a joy of dancing in Ainslie.

Here's hoping for a contender for her next time! She will be the epitome of support and class regardless though

Oh thanks!
Of course, I should have been Googling Bennett and Gaga, not the people I was actually interested in - Doh!

Ricky got called arrogant, boring (for already being good) and smug a fair few times and she wasn't liked because she had the ambition to win in her first year and was viewed as being too competitive for an entertainment show (i think this was back in the day when the BBC still had their own forum, like the digital spy one, then people came to here when that got closed, that forum was a fesity one!).

I really liked Natalie from day one, had no problem that as a professional dancer she wanted to win something (as all competitors love doing) and on top of that wanting to do well with Ricky. People comment on how well she does with duffers, but she does really well when she has good dancers (like Ricky and scott) too. She cared alot about both those good dancers as she has done her not so good ones, and created great bonds with them on and off the dancefloor (remember there was even talk of a ricky natalie romance just because of certain words he used for her that the media over read into). Duffer or no duffer, she's always been dedictated and serious about her job on Strictly and tried her best to connect as best she can with her partners (dancing and personality wise).

The year she had Ricky was a perfect year for her to win, lovely partnership, fantastic routines (still love their tango from blackpool) and a hard working pair. But fair enough, people that year preffered Chris Hollins and Ola, so her best ever opportunity missed.

I'd forgotten about that routine. Dare I say I couldn't stop looking at Aliona and Katya's hair when I watched it just now? I'd forgotten Aliona's hair used to be that colour - it's so much better in its current strawberry blonde shade. And Katya looked classier as a brunette, too.



Looking back to Natalie's first series, it occasionally happens that something in the introductory VTs for the new pros puts people off. That's more down to editing than the pros themselves, but I think that's what happened with Natalie. It's not unknown for it to take a series or two for a new pro to settle in and for viewers to like them. Fortunately, we were given that chance with Natalie - some pros don't last long enough for that.